AJ McCarty is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Texas Tech.
McCarty moves between deep coverage and the slot. The five seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Dave Aranda and Joey McGuire. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Houston — Week 6, 2025.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
21 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 21 | 14 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Texas Tech | 29 | 18 | 6.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022 | Baylor | 34 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | Baylor | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2020 | Baylor | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 88 | 63 | 9.5 | 0.5 | 7 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 67-7vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 62-14vs Kent State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 3 | W 45-14vs Oregon State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 35-11@ Houston | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 42-17vs Kansas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-0vs Oklahoma State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-9vs UCF | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 49-0@ West Virginia | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 14 | 3.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Week 7 · 2025
W 42-17
vs Kansas
1 tackle for loss · 3 tackles · 2 solo tackles
Dominant 25-point win at home against Kansas.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
5%1 pass breakupsTackle volume
21tackles this seasonTFL rate
14%3 TFL21 tackles · 3 for loss · 1 pass breakup.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Joey McGuire
Pass share
47.6%
484 pass / 532 run
Plays / game
72.6
14 games
Team sack rate
4.6%
482 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #481 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #39 of 42 Big 12 DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
A stat line in 36 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Dave Aranda and Joey McGuire.
